Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Life

We are all just students in this classroom called life. I will admit, I myself think this sounds a little cheesy, but it is definitely something that I believe. Whether you realize it or not, you do learn something everyday--you either gain new information or see something that you have never seen before. Life is a classroom. And whether we realize it or not, we are not always right. There is not always something relevant to say. That doesn't mean that we are stupid, but instead that we have not gained this information. It is in this way that we share information and learn from one another.

I am interested in everything. I don't know if this is always good, but I am interested in gaining new knowledge all the time--it doesn't have to be important knowledge, but I just like knowing things. If I come across words in a book that I don't know, I look them up right away or write them down and look them up later. If I read or hear about something that I don't know about, I google it. I consider Google and Wikipedia two of my valuable friends....yes, I did say that.

This is my question, and its a question that has just occurred to me: if I weren't a child born into this era of modern technology, would I have these same views? Technology has made knowledge so easily accessible that I truely believe that some people would feel that they had just had one of their limbs amputated if they were to be without it. Smartphones, Wifi almost everywhere, and social networking websites have become a very "important" parts of peoples lives. I won't say that this doesn't bother me from time to time. I learn so much from the internet. I will admit that I rely on it too much. But back to the question: would I have these same views? I'm not sure. I have no idea what kind of person I would be if I would have been born hundreds of years ago, or even 60 years ago and without this extra limb that is technology. This really scares me.

Sorry I am going to leave it at that...

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Mental Rambling

 My mom and I went to see the movie "The Vow." After we left the theatre, my mom said that she was almost crying during certain moments in the movie. As I sit here on my bed typing this now, I can not think of one single movie that has made me cry. I have seen movies where I get that lump in my throat, but no tears ever come. When I was younger the only things that really made me cry were just silly things now that I look back on it. The normal moments that are usually deemed appropriate for crying just didn't phase me. To this day, I don't always know how to "properly act" in certain situations. When someone is in an accident, or a family member dies, I may cry one time, but I definitely do not get on my facebook account and post every loving detail of that person and how much they meant to me. However, I am not saying that that is the wrong thing to do. Obviously, everyone has their own way of dealing with things. For years I have questioned my actions in situations like these. I have been asked if I have any compassion. And to that, I say, yes, I do have compassion. So much compassion that I think about certain events that happen so much that I do not even know how to express my thoughts. At funerals I just stand there, unable to cry.

But then again, there are many other situations in my life where I can cry for hours. What are the motives? What makes me this way? I think that when I cry it is usually over something that I know I can change if I work hard enough, but I never know how to begin. In other words, I cry when I am frustrated with my own life. This sounds so selfish, even to me as I type. I also cry for many other reasons unknown. After I returned to my dorm after watching "The Vow," I sat down, got on youtube and listened to "Someone Like You" by Adele. I started bawling. I don't even know why. While she has one of the most beautiful voices I have heard, I don't have any sort of emotional attachement to her. How do you explain this? I really don't know how. I guess this is just one of the many things I can add to my own mental list of self mysteries.